Editing Services Explained

Developmental editing takes a look at a story from a “big picture” point of view. The editor looks for problems associated with plot, character development, conflict and tension, pacing, and consistency, just to name a few. Sometimes a story doesn’t start in the right place, sometimes the balance between dialogue and narrative is a little off. A developmental editor will identify these problems and help the author come up with solutions to fix them.

Line editing takes a closer look at the story, approaching the edit at a sentence level. The purpose of this is to improve the quality of the writing and bring clarity and consistency to the author’s voice and style. 

 Copyediting looks at the entire manuscript from a technical perspective. The editor works to correct errors of grammar and punctuation and looks at things like word choice, repetition, agreement, and much more. The overall goal of copyediting is to refine the manuscript for accuracy, clarity, and consistency by correcting errors without introducing new ones, changing the author’s voice, or corrupting the author’s intended meaning. 

Proofreading should be the final stage of an author’s editing process. This involves looking for and correcting mistakes like spelling, punctuation, spacing, syntax, and font. 

A manuscript evaluation is a great way to get a professional opinion of your manuscript without having to opt for the cost of a full developmental edit. This option can also help you determine what type of help you need if you aren't sure. With a manuscript evaluation, a professional editor reads through your completed manuscript (or the portion you have completed so far) and tells you either what type of editing would be most beneficial or what kind of story problems are present. While it looks at a manuscript from a developmental standpoint, it differs in three ways. First, a manuscript evaluation does not necessarily include in-text edits or comments to show the author where problems occur. Second, it does not provide detailed suggestions for how to fix problems. Third, it does not provide an exhaustive list of all the problems. It can, however, be targeted to address certain issues the author is concerned about.

Author coaching involves working with a coach to help improve your writing, work through story problems, or simply to help you achieve your writing goals. Working with a writing coach is an intimate working relationship where you work together to identify goals and a schedule for accomplishing them.

Medical-legal editing is for those who must prepare documents as part of their role as an expert witness in court. These documents are often lengthy and highly technical but require clear and concise language and error-free writing in order to be effective. Due to the heavy legal weight of these documents, an expert pair of eyes to identify and eliminate mistakes is crucial.